Application due soon....and I'm not ready

[Guest Throttle]

Well, I'm not a student at UBC, but I will be next year. Almost ALL of my asian friends who graduated last year went to UBC for some reason and most of my caucasian friends who graduated went to SFU.

 

I guess it's strange.

 

P.S. Funny how this discussion went from a guy trying to find info about UT to people talking about HK students and their assets.

[Guest Carolyn]

BTW there is no Shannon at MacMed in 2nd year who went to UofT first... just thought I'd point that out - Who are you "shannon"???

[Guest Ian Wong]

If you want, you can e-mail me at: mdpremie@yahoo.com

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

[Guest FromHK]

Carolyn...

 

At least she's not bashing Mac :-)

 

Back to the whole HK-Asian thing.

 

Having come from HK, I understand a lot of the problems the kids from there face when they come to Canada. Personally, I have grown to the point where people wouldn't even guess I was born there (I have no accent, speak and write English fairly decently - enough to get an A in university level English).

 

There are quite a lot of stereotypes against HK asians and most of it is warranted to a small population of kids. Not all of us drive BMWs and are showy as*es. Not all of us are overly competitive nerds. A lot of the mentality to work hard is a work ethic we inherited from our parents - many of whom had to struggle in the 70's and early 80's. For a lot of us, having a good education is the key to establishing a comfortable lifestyle. Of course, living comfortably is not the end all and be all, but do you really expect us to sit back and be "uncompetitive"? That would be stupid in any context I think :-)

 

Regarding asians being in cliques, it is true. I for one have mostly white friends and have actually consciously tried not to be part of that "clique" which others on this board have described. It's also probably because I'm at Queen's, and so there really isn't many asian people to hang out with (there's a lot of gossip here and the community isn't huge!). It is hard for HK-Asians to really become accepted with people outside of their culture. The reason, and this is my opinion of course, is because people on the "outside" don't really like HK-Asians. They are consumed with stereotypes - not being able to speak English properly, etc - and simply won't reach out to them. A lot of my friends have said some pretty upsetting things (many of which is quite ignorant). I don't blame them as I don't fully understand the root of their discontent. I do know HK-Asians who truly try to break free of their cliques and meet people from other cultures. It is hard.

 

One more comment about Queen's lifesci/biochem programs. I am in one of these programs and I have to say it kicks as*. It is very competitive, people do rip pages out of journals, and *some* people are jerks. However, I've had a good couple of years and here and am ready to move on. Looking back, however, I don't think I would have went to another university. Quite simply put, I liked the challenge and I think those of you who want one can find it here. There's good and bad people, and knowing how to deal with each type of people you meet is really part of life, isn't it? (Disclaimer: If you want a easy way to get to meds, don't come here, okay? Only the creme de la creme come out on top simply because it is really competitive. I cannot even begin to describe, but reference the others who have posted before me.)

 

Best of luck to you all!

[Guest shannon]

I just dont advertise the fact that I went to UofT first, you tend to get alot of oh she couldnt hack it at UofT so she had to come to Mac.

 

And shannon is my middle name!

 

Sorry Carolyn you dont know everybody at the school

[Guest jet]

Yeah thats cool you are really helpful, I know what you mean about UofT!

 

I think one advantage of posting on the board is that under anonimity you can provide your honest and candid opinion for questions people have. THAT I think is helpful not flowery positive answers that dont get to the heart of the question but dance around the issue and just explore the (insert dimples here) smiley happy great super duper aspects.

 

Thanks Shannon, and as for the poster who tried to "get to the bottom of your identity", why bother using your real name....so they can chase you down for providing your candid opinion?

 

Just chill out Shannon's giving some good and very accurate advice, leave her alone!!!! Who gives a crap about her real identity I dont know why some people are so anal

 

thanks for the advice keep it coming and ignore the " thought police"

[Guest secret identity guy]

well, I think there might have been some doubt as to

whether she was a student there or not. I agree

that users here should have the right to conceal their

identities on this board, though. Perhaps to avoid real

confrontations on campus...

[Guest Ian Wong]

I guess that comes when the two posters are actually classmates. As far as posting on the board goes, the vast majority of posters have not signed on with their real names. However, most people are not using real "names", but rather pseudonyms like: YongQ, not rex morgan, BCGirl, UWOMED2005, whatever.

 

When someone uses a login like Shannon however, it's implied that Shannon is the poster's real name, and I think it's perfectly reasonable for Carolyn to wonder which of her classmates that person is, particularly if there isn't a Shannon (first name anyways) from U of T in that class.

 

In either event, anonymity is something that is pretty much guaranteed on this forum. There's no requirement to register using your real name, nor is there a requirement to post messages. If you never post a message, you are essentially anonymous to absolutely everyone. I think preserving confidentiality is somethinig to be maintained on this board, and will strive to continue this.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

[Guest Carolyn]

Gosh I was just curious -- didn't mean to come across as the thought police... geech! And of course I dont' know the background of everyone at Mac - I just know that there is only one first-named Shannon in Mac 2nd year and that she is american and went to school in the states. I agree that it is fair to maintain anonymity - that has never been an issue for me.

 

I do however think using the first name of someone who is at Mac and then offering very strong and what some felt was bordering on racist is a little unfair to the Shannon who is known as Shannon around Mac - why not come up with a more hidden name???

 

Carolyn

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Carolyn - I think you're totally justified in questioning the identity of "shannon" to see if she really is a student at Mac.

 

Hmm. . . I agree with the idea of being able to post anonymously so that one can avoid being caught int the "political correctness" trap. Unfortunately, being able to post anonymously on a board like this also allows one to make up facts and yet sound like a credible source (after all, can you really be certain I'm really enrolled at Western's medical - well considering I've listed my name a couple of times on this board I guess you could ask the real J. Rader at Western if he posts here!) It wouldn't be the first time someone lied about their identity to support one's own distorted misconceptions, to tarnish the reputation of a school someone doesn't like, or even just to maliciously misinform med school applicants about their chances of getting into medical school. . . (just look at the example of ALLAN24100/7HOUSES last year on Delphi)

 

If these message boards are to going to be used as a credible source of information for medical school applicants, considering the potential for abuse, we should all be vigilant of wild claims made by posters hiding behind the veil of anonymity.

[Guest shannon]

I just wanted to clarify that I was not being racist, but rather describing the general vibe of the UofT downtown life sciences program and like to repeat you should not take my word or anybody elses about any school but actually go to campuses and attend some of the classes you will be taking if you decide to go. It is only then that you will realize where you best fit in and thrive. For me an ultra competitive environment without the feeling among students that "hey we are all in this together" was not appropriate. I wish I had gone to campus before I started attending and got a good flavour for the people UofT attracts (in general). As for sabotashing the school or ruining people's chances for med school. I dont have any intentions of either but rather feel that if you attend a University that you are comfortable in you will thrive, get good marks, be more inclined to get involved and end up IMPROVING your chances to get into medicine. I am just relaying my experience, as when I transfered, I got asked in every interview about why I left UofT: Questions like "Why would you leave UofT, the Harvard of the North, the medical school with more medical discoveries and noble prizes than any school in Canada and arguably one of the best medical and life science programs in the world.....and for MAC nonetheless?" So I had a lot of explaining to do, time that could have been used to "sell" myself as a candidate. In the end I love MAC, noble prizes/international reputation or not and I think everyone should find their own "Harvard of the North" based on their own preference and personality.

 

Good Luck to everyone

Shannon

[Guest UWOMED2005]

I agree with you completely that you do need to check out the campus of the schools you are considering applying to. Going to a school based solely on the fact its students think it's the best or a magazine has rated it number #1 is rather foolish. And I had no interest in going to U of T for undergrad for the main reason you underlined: competitiveness. I find it ridiculous now (and I've experienced the same phenomenon myself) that some U of T grads might look down on me now for not CHOOSING to go there - when they are extremely ignorant about the quality of other Canadian Schools. People applying or doing undergrad often seem to forget that undergrad is just that - UNDERgraduate education. You really are nothing (at least in the academic sense of the word) with just a B.Sc or B.A and the academic stuff you retain 5-10 years down the road will be the same whether you go to U of T or another one of Canada's fine undergrad institutes.

 

I do find it kind of surprising, however, that you associate that you initially associated such attitudes only with the "Hong Kong" crowd. I've met people from a variety of different backgrounds who fall into that ultra-competitive-to-the-point-of-destroying-teamwork category. Also - a number of students in our class were born in Hong Kong - and some of them are among the most relaxed people in our class.

 

By the way - I hope you don't think my previous comments referring to anonymous posters posting disinformation or falsifying their identiy specifically referred to you. . . it's just something I have seen happen on these admissions boards and it irks me when it happens - so I think I understand what Carolyn was getting at verifying if you were in fact a Mac student.

[Guest tina]

Shannon,

 

you said that you transferred from UofT to Mac? How did you go about doing it? Did you find it difficult to get involved into the uni community? Also do Med schools care if you do transfer?

 

Thank for your help...

 

P.S. What made you chose Mac rather than Queens or Western.

[Guest Delirious]

I started this thread oh so long ago and far away...and it's just interesting to see where it's going now...hehe.

[Guest patch]

Hi,

 

I applied for Trinity College. My OAC average (I had six credits by the end of January, including a 90% in English) was 86.5%. Does anybody know what the average admission was for ARTS/HUMANITIES (e.g. History, English, Philosophy etc...) over, say the past five years?

 

Also, can anybody verify the idea that Trinity makes the admission decision half based on marks and half based on the mandatory Student Profile?

 

I am in a semestered school and I think I will get 3 90's in the OAC courses I am currently taking. This would raise my average to about 90%; would Trinity reconsider me?

 

How would you describe Trinity's reputation? Do they have the highest admission marks within U of T? Are they considered the most academically intensive etc?

 

- Bruce

caesarca@rogers.com

[Guest 9901birdie]

Yo Patch!

 

I'm a 3rd year sciences student at Trin...

 

Not sure about admission policies these past 2 years...but i heard the cutoff is around 90% (?)

you should go talk to the registrar~

 

Trin science students are often grossly categorized by students from other colleges as very "academic" -- smart/hardworking/competitive/ "nerdish"

 

Which is sort of true...many of the top scorers in my upper year sci courses are trin students..and on average trin students perform quite well academic-wise..

 

and don't forget that our governor general is a trin alumni! (but i just can't remember her name)

 

good luck~